Responding with Wonderment and AweThe most beautiful experience in the world is the experience of the mysterious.-Albert EinsteinAll throughout Chemistry class there have been multiple time when I have reacted with wonderment and awe, but i'd have to say the most obvious and memorable moment is when our group finally got a golf ball to float in salt water. This whole experiment took quite a long time for us to figure out, but once we got there the result was all worth the wait.This experiment took place during the first couple class periods where we were assigned to complete a couple experiments and write up our procedure and how we accomplished this. In this particular experiment, we were given a golf ball, distilled water, a balance, hot plate, and salt, and we had to make the golf ball float in water. Our four person group knew how to begin the starting steps to find the density of the golf ball (1.1573g/mL), and compare it to distilled water (1g/ml). However, it was a challenge for us to measure the amount of salt needed in the distilled water to allow the water to increase its density enough to be greater than the golf ball's density (1.1573g/mL). After multiple ideas of how to measure how much salt is needed to be poured into distilled water to increase its density, we decided to try one out. This particular idea was to measure the change in density after 5g of salt was added to 50mL of distilled water. After recording the change of density from 5g of salt, we would then calculate how many more grams of salt we needed, before the golf ball would begin to float. However, our calculations went wrong, as heat was another factor we didn't consider. All of this eventually became very discouraging as it took much more salt to raise the density of water than we anticipated. However, after trial and error, we were able to complete this experiment. Although it may have taken us to much preparation and too much thought, the sight of the golf ball floating in our salt water solution was just like watching a basketball player score a winning shot for their team. It was quite an astonishing thing to see, a solid floating in what seemed to be just regular water, however the salt had created a higher density compared to the golf ball, allowing it to float. Seeing the golf ball float in this liquid solution really made me respond with wonderment and awe, and made the whole period much better after we completed our final goal.
It was quite an astonishing thing to see, a solid floating in what seemed to be just regular water, however the salt had created a higher density compared to the golf ball, allowing it to float. Seeing the golf ball float in this liquid solution really made me respond with wonderment and awe, and made the whole period much better after we completed our final goal.